Sandy Stever to retire as mental health director in Jefferson County

FAIRFIELD – Sandy Stever has worked in human services for over 50 years, and she’s ready to call it a career.

Stever announced that she would retire at the end of this year from her duties as coordinator of mental health and disability services in Jefferson County, where she spent 26 years. The public is invited to attend an open house for Stever from 1-3 p.m. on Dec. 30 at the Jefferson County Courthouse.

Stever said a few factors went into her decision to retire, such as the fact she has already “surpassed retirement age,” and because changes are on the horizon in how the state provides mental health and disability services. In 2014, the state began providing those services through a regional model, and that will end in July 2025 when all services will be under the Department of Human Services.

“I look forward to change, but I don’t need another complete change in the system. I’m just ready to not learn anything further,” she said. “I think in the end this change will be positive. They’re merging behavioral health with substance and alcohol usage into one system.”

Stever is a Fairfield native, having graduated from Fairfield High School in 1973. As a senior in high school, she was so advanced in math that she arranged to take Algebra and Trigonometry classes at Parsons College, in what would turn out to be its final year of operation. However, Stever’s main interest at the time was sociology, and that’s what she studied in college. She worked at the DHS office in Fairfield before moving to Missouri with her husband where she became a county director of a human service office.

Stever’s time in Missouri included stints in cities such as Troy, Lebanon, Marshfield and Waynesville. She said each stop brought its unique joys and challenges.

“At Fort Leonard Wood, there was a huge mix of cultures and races and intermarriages,” she said. “In other counties, they might try to match an African-American child with an African-American foster family, or a white child to a white foster family. But in Waynesfield, it didn’t matter. It was just about who had an opening, whether it was Asian or African or mixed or whatever.”

While working in human services, Stever was also taking classes through Drury College, where she graduated with a triple major in psychology, sociology and criminal justice. Stever said she was motivated to do something different while dealing with the deep grief of losing her husband, and decided to become a special agent for the Attorney General of Missouri. This included going undercover to investigate Medicaid fraud among providers, where Stever sometimes had to testify in court about her findings.

Stever was a special agent for 1.5 years, but realized that line of work was not as fulfilling as her previous career.

“Whenever we got the bad guy, all the people I worked with were going ‘Yeah! Yeah!’ but I was back doing the social work thing of wondering, ‘why did they do this?’” Stever said. “My heart was never really into that role. My heart was always with human services.”

When Stever’s daughter was a senior in college, she felt it was time to move back home, so she returned to Fairfield. She went back to the DHS office, and then worked as the Central Point of Coordination for Jefferson County, managing the county’s mental health services.

Stever said she has found her work with mental health to be fulfilling and important. She said mental health disorders are receiving more publicity than in earlier decades, and there is now wider acceptance of how common they are. She said most of these disorders can be managed through medication, and those who end up in the court system or who need to be committed are usually people who refuse to take medication.

“Some people can manage just fine with breathing techniques, resting every day, walking or meditating, but the vast majority need medication in order to get stable and stay stable,” she said. “The whole system is trying to stop stigmatizing mental health and Western medications because they are so needed for so many people.”

Stever’s last day will be Jan. 3, and though she will be vacating her post on the third floor of the courthouse, her assistant Leia Craff will continue working in the office.

“She will continue as an administrative assistant, and she has vast knowledge of the mental health system,” Stever said of Craff. “She can guide somebody to where they need to be.”

Stever said she’s been blessed to work with great magistrates such as Steve Small, Benny Waggoner and Phil Parsons. She said it’s been wonderful to work with the Jefferson County Attorney’s Office including Elizabeth Estey and Pat McAvan before that.

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Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com